Comments on: Get Me The Geeks!

How Tricky Technology Is Giving Rise To The Geeks

[traysea1]

I DO, DAN! And I''ll do it again! Just because I save on my laptop doesn''t mean a jerk can claim to upgrade memory AND NOT LOSE DATA then wipe it out completely!!

[danmohonk]

Who puts 20 years worth of work on a laptop and doesn''t back it up on disc? That''s just flat out stupid especially if you''re bringing your laptop in for a memory upgrade. I thought everybody knew better than that, but I obviously was wrong!

[farmerkaren]

Thanks for your piece on technology. I thought it was just me! Or maybe just people in my age group -- over 55 -- but I feel better now! I always thought I was smarter than the average bear but the new technology is humbling. I hope the technology industry leaders take into account that a significant number of people like me aren''t buying the new stuff because we''ve been burned with the lack of usability on products now available.

[danmohonk]

Geek Squad doesn''t need to be certified, at least not yet.
I think that it''s unfair to condemn a whole company over the mistakes of a few people. If your stuff was that important why didn''t you back it up on disc? Maybe you should ask yourself that question.
Geek Squad may have wiped out your memory but it''s your fault that it wasn''t backed up!

[traysea1]

I want ANYONE who is pondering the thought of taking ANY piece of equipment to ANY Geek Squad or Best Buy store...DON''T DO IT!!!! Don''t believe the lies and garbage Best Buy or the Geek Squad tells you. These "geeks" are NOT CERTIFIED TO REPAIR NOTHING!! They "lost" over 20 years of screenplays, manuscripts, software I can no longer retrieve and business info when I took my laptop in for a simple memory upgrade. You wouldn''t take your car to be repaired by someone who is not certified, why trust those liars with something as important as your valuable equipment. A Geek Squad "tech" confessed they are not certified but are ALLOWED to repair equipment! BE WARNED!!!!

[jackt21]

I watched with interest that the only computers that needed the Geek Squad, and other support, were the compatibles running Microsoft.. Although an Apple iMac was sitting in the background of one interview, not once were they shown or mentioned as needing support. With only 10% market share, they may not be that prominent, but the fact is that if they had 50% market share, they still wouldn''t need the support that the cheap ones need.

Good article.

[danmohonk]

I found the Steve Kroft piece on the Geek Squad interesting. I have to say that it was easy to see this industry coming with the day to day technology changes.
One thing that I did disagree with though is when Steve Kroft said that a universal remote is a few hundred dollars, and difficult to set up. I bought a brand named universal remote for less than $15.00 and it took about 1/2 an hour to set up. It works my stereo, cd player, dvd player, vcr, and tv with the push of a button. All of my components are brand named products, but all different brands.
Not to mention that my stereo is hooked up through my tv for theater sound. I was able to do all of this with some time, patience, and common sense.
However when it comes to my computer, "get me the geeks"!!

[truthscat]

Great segment, truly enjoyed it. Would like to show it to my entrepreneurship and technology classes.

[usersmatter]

Having worked in part as a software support position where I constantly heard that the users were stupid or the problem was a training issue, when truth was it a usability issue. Usability issues are when the users concept on how it should work did not fit the programmers/developers concept.

It is no wonder why the users are experiencing boughts of tech-rage. We see it every where, from cell phones to credit machines, remote controls to cameras; not to mention the owner''s manuals of products (writen by techs for techs).

So why don''t organizations spend resources on user testing on products and its documentation? Money, lack of understanding/appreciation of usability and inability to forcast a return on investment for usability assurance testing.

What can we as consumers do? Shift the purchasing decision away from price of the product to overall value. After all, which would you rather: a cheap product you can''t use or a bit more expensive one that intuitively works?

[brasillier]

The problem is greater than your coverage. First of all, the manuals that come with computers are woefully inadequate--they don''t begin to explain everyhing.

Second, most of the messages that come up on the screen might as well be written in Albanian. Haven''t these people ever heard of technical writers?

[lightlug]

I upgraded my home theatre system to an HD-LCD TV and Direct TV''s HD-DVR recorder. I ended up with 4 remotes - VCR, TV, HD-DVR, & Bose sound system. I bought a Logitech universal remote and their tech support group was one of the best I''ve ever dealt with. They bailed me out of my programming errors and fixed everything a year after I bought the remote for use with an earlier system. The Logitech remote controls everything,and the 4 individual remotes are in the drawer. Hooray for the Geeks and the tech support people who do a great job. The segment on 60 minutes was terrific.

Lightlug
Los Angeles

[mitch0927]

jjp735i a mr/mrs no-it-all. Keep up the good work, because it will just bring more my way. THere is a lot more to that than you think, but keep thinking that way, and people like me will be coming to your rescue...... LOL

[jjp735i]

What is not reported is the high cost to use the geeks and simple fact that most problems can be fixed for free.

Almost all items can be fixed by the very people who caused the problem for free. They just don''t pay attention to all the free tools out there or learn how to use them. So they pay a large price to fix a slow running computer, when they could have just defragged, emptied folders and deleted their cache. You don''t have to be a "geek" to learn and understand the basics of PC maintenance.

[squidish]

Engineer Don Norman has some nerve blaming problems with hard to use technology on designers. In fact, it is very apparent that designers were NOT involved in most unsuccessful product releases. Bad products arise from using technology "because it was there", from engineer-driven interfaces, and market demands for more features. Look at Apple products - user experience designers were leaders of this product design (not engineers) and almost anyone can pick up an iPod and use it immediately.

[sonomorte]

Did we consider the idea that these "Geeks" have student loans to learn their wares, and that the industry is paying them about as much as your waiter in the local Denny''s?

I notice this wasn''t mentioned. All you folks that think you have issues with your appliances, and your gadgets, remember, these are made in China, with programming and design by India, as you are the people running these shops that outsource what starves and condemns us "Geeks"

[squidish]

Engineer Don Norman has some nerve blaming problems with hard to use technology on designers. In fact, it is very apparent that designers were NOT involved in most unsuccessful product releases. Bad products arise from using technology "because it was there", from engineer-driven interfaces, and market demands for more features. Look at Apple products - user experience designers were leaders of this product design (not engineers) and almost anyone can pick up an iPod and use it immediately.

[mistern3]

You do a great job of reinforcing a stereotype, namely "geek". What stereotype will you feature next, and why?

[mistern3]

You do a great job of reinforcing a stereotype, namely "geek". What stereotype will you feature next, and why?

[aliciacooks]

%u201CWhy do I need a computer in my refrigerator?%u201D

I was watching the show and almost before Pogue replied, %u201CYou don%u2019t%u201D, I muttered, %u201CI don%u2019t, I don%u2019t want their computer in my kitchen, I want my computer in my kitchen.%u201D

In 1969 Honeywell tried to sell the Kitchen Computer for $10,000 to help manage recipes. It failed. Thirty-plus years later the ScreenFridge was introduced by Electrolux, and it no longer shows up on their website. There have been lots of other unsuccessful attempts by appliance companies trying to force computers into the kitchen.

I am a cook and, yes, a geek. I do use my laptop in my kitchen. The difference here is that I am choosing to use my laptop in a way that best suits my interests. I am not limited by the vision of an appliance designer.

It is when appliance companies focus on serving my needs in "my" kitchen, rather than on some special or %u201Ccool%u201D techno-gizmo, that they will ultimately succeed in creating a meaningful relationship with cooks.

Alicia
Creator www.cookingwithalicia.com

[garrein]

Regardless of what we (as consumers) might consider ideal in terms of technological advancements and product setup/usage - the fact is, that the "need for Geeks" is likely to remain a part of society for quite some time. However, I think that it is somewhat naive (for lack of a better word) to assume that manufacturers (or their 'Geeks') are making these products difficult to use, simply so that consumers will have to pay for support. The reason is this: in order to compete, manufacturers need to remain at the forefront in terms of technologies provided - the technologies themselves are intended to make life easier (after all, we are the most convenience-driven and gluttonous consumer-base, ever) - unfortunately, there are a lot of different aspects that go into making many of these devices work, the "backend" (that we don't interact with) is usually much further developed than the controls/interfaces that we deal with. Given the need to stay "bleeding-edge," the means by which we "tell" a product to do something on the backend via the user-side, cannot always be simplified quickly enough by manufacturers. The 'language' that communicates our desires to the components that actually perform the tasks usually starts out very verbose before it is streamlined - requiring less buttons/interactions/complications-with-setup.

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